6:5
In the equivalent passage in Mark 2:27,28 Jesus says “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath”. There are two key issues here. The first is the purpose of the Sabbath. The Pharisees had made the Sabbath into an idol, and everything was geared towards serving the Sabbath. In Mark Jesus reminds them that the Sabbath was actually made for man’s benefit. The same applies with many, even all, of God’s commands. It is actually better for us if we obey them. Currently the Sabbath is of little interest to most, but sexual morality is a big issue. So often it is painted as God forbidding sex outside marriage, and homosexual activity for the sake of it. He is doing this for our benefit. Our lives, including our sex lives, will be much better if we follow God’s instructions.
The second issue is Son of Man. This is a messianic term, from Daniel 7:13. However, as used in Ezekiel, it can also just refer to mankind. So Jesus could be just reminding them that the Sabbath is for man’s benefit. However, Jesus does use the term in its messianic connection of Himself elsewhere, and part of what He is doing in the gospels is showing them the true meaning of the Sabbath.
6:6,7
This latter aspect of demonstrating the true meaning of the Sabbath, and moreover, God’s intentions for the Sabbath, is brought out again in the next incident. Ultimately whether the disciples were right to eat the corn or not is a trivial matter, but now we come to a very important matter, for a man’s life is involved.
Jesus was teaching as usual in the synagogue on the Sabbath. There was a man with a shrivelled hand. And here we see the difference between Jesus’ attitude, and that of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were looking for an excuse to accuse Jesus. Jesus was looking to give life to people.
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